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THe LSC near me finally got their shipment of this n this week, so as promised to 4thy, I will review this--- I have been trying for years to understand what people see in Eric Powell's work. From sporadic issues of The Goon - including SSB - and Chimichanga I feel that I have given his work more than its fair chance and I just don't get it. Billy The Kid's OTO&TGFL is no different, besides chuckling once at Billy overly direct nature in regards to Joseph and the added detail of the prostitute urinating in the alley, I found this book incredibly boring.

I do not mind the lack of a back story; "Billy The Kid is in London with a freak show" was, surprisingly, enough for me to to accept this universe's reality. What bothered me was Billy's predictable personality and attitude towards every other character, its as if there are 3 cowboy templates and Powell chose the "douchey one who thinks he's clever".

I do like this different take on the Jack The Ripper myth (myth?), Ihave read enough mystical, magical, alien, JTR stories to last the rest of my life, but for some reason the "they seemed to overlook that an innocent man was killed" line seemed to be trying to hard to shoe horn this story into a "race" parable.

All that being said, Hotz's strong suit has always, IMO, been to make the art fit the intended tone of his books, and he succeeded again in this book. All at once I felt the dark and dank of 19th century London, the love and care Sproule feels for his freaks, and the fish out of water aura seeping out of Billy.

All-in-all, I guess I see why people would like this book, but it is not for me

story - 5.5art - 8overall - 6.75

Last edited by GHERU on Mon Sep 20, 2010 2:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

This book is nuts. It does what comic books do best: combines a bunch of unlikely genres into one impossible story and just lets everything run wild in all directions. You don't find this kind of storytelling in books or TV, and it is rarely done in film (and when it is, the movie is often a mess). Somehow, even though it is constantly teetering on madness, BILLY THE KID'S OLD TIMEY ODDITIES #1 works.

Everything is wonderfully over the top, including the illustrations. I love the depiction of Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man. He's not simply deformed and sickly. He's a Hulk-sized freak, with elephant-like features, including trunk and tusk. Is this in bad taste? You bet it is. But it’s also wickedly imaginative and memorable. Comics should be filled with unforgettable images. And the one of Merrick will stay with me for a long time. Great read!

Punchy wrote:Best Line - 'I'll give your little Gentleman a jolly good tossle and a slide down the gullet before, mind ye!'

This wasn't just the best line, it was an amazing panel as well.

BILLY THE KID #1

As a few others have stated individually, this is also my first taste of Billy the Kid from the minds of Eric Powell and Kyle Hotz. I'm starting to realize that anything Eric Powell has his finger in, I'm gonna love. Take that how you will.

Billy the kid travels with a freak show and in this mini series they are called to White Chapel to help with the Jack the Ripper Murders. This book will appeal to a lot of people, to people that already love Powell's work on the goon and his other books, as well as people that like books involving aspects of history. I know a lot of people intrigued by the Jack the ripper murders.

Having not read the first mini series, I did feel like I had to hit the ground running, however within the first three pages, we know everyone's names and a little something about each of them without making it painfully obvious what they're doing.

The art to me feels like a perfect fit for this book and could go on what there is to like about it for ages. The full page spread of the elephant man being held up by his pulleys, the amazing back grounds, and an artwork that just speaks of the era that this comic is set in all just add to what was great about this book.

Having read this makes me want to track down the first trade of this, and I'll be sure to pick this up when it comes out in trade also.

Art 8.5Story 8

Overall 8.25

Goon-lite

Its always good to see more Goon, even if it's just for three pages. God-damn they're purdy

I liked this one but it wasn't anything all that special.I'm also kind of tired of Jack the Ripper stories. It was a standard first issue but like I said, it was missing that special thing that made me want to read the next issue.

6

The Back up though was great and I wish there was more of it...I really need to start reading the good...don't judge me.

8

total 7.

doombug wrote:You really are the george carlin of the outhouse. that's fucking hilarious.

doombug wrote:and yeah, Yoni called it.

I feel like a condemned building with a brand new flag pole.- Les Paul